Life Chances: Labor Rights, International Institutions, and Worker Fatalities in the Global South

Kerrissey, Jasmine; Schuhrke, Jeff

doi:10.1093/sf/sow050

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…At a worldwide level, a decoupling process turns out to be more solid in the case of the fatal injuries footprint, while the risk of coupling is higher in the case of the forced labour footprint. Despite having a random component, fatalities at work have shown a certain correlation with the degree of institutional progress achieved [21] [61], so it is reasonable to expect the corresponding footprint to diminish over time since developing countries will become more conscious of the importance of labour rights and the need to implement occupational health and safety measures. On the contrary, forced labour is a hidden phenomenon strongly linked to social relationships, such as dependence of isolated communities, the vulnerability of certain minorities and the absence of choice for people trapped in clandestine exploitation networks [12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unmasking social distant damage of developed regions’ lifestyle: A decoupling analysis of the indecent labour footprint

et al. 2020

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A fair path to achieve a sustainable world would imply reducing the eventual negative effects linked to the production process while increasing economic output, which is referred to in the literature as impact decoupling. This article aims to assess whether global consumption chains are currently on the decoupling path or not, from a social point of view. Specifically, we address the working conditions which developed societies' lifestyle sparked at a distance in global factory countries, focusing on the most harmful consequences of an indecent work. Additionally, we determine the kind of decoupling observed through the new concept of social footprints' elasticities with respect to final demand for each region. We employ a Multi-Regional Input-Output model and an own elaboration database of social impacts concerning undignified working conditions. Results indicate that most countries achieved the goal of decoupling occupational injuries-both fatal and non-fatal-from production, while results for forced labour show a slower and sometimes uncertain process of decoupling. European Union and United States' footprints have been reduced overtime for the three impacts. However, more than half of these footprints are still generated by imports, mainly from developing regions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unmasking social distant damage of developed regions’ lifestyle: A decoupling analysis of the indecent labour footprint

et al. 2020

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“…While a good bit of literature has been devoted to the determinants of labor rights (Blanton et al, 2015;Mosley, 2010;Greenhill, Mosley, and Prakash, 2009), less has been devoted to the impacts of labor rights. Several studies have started to uncover some of the positive impacts of labor rights in areas such as economic competitiveness and the overall investment climate (Anner and Caraway, 2010;Kucera, 2002), and others have found labor rights to be associated with safer workplaces as well as higher levels of human development (Kerrissey and Schuhrke, 2016;Meyer, 2015). Yet as a whole, much of the skepticism about the negative impacts of labor rights-part of the "Washington Consensus" that emerged in response to the negative impacts of labor-oriented statist regimes during the 1970s and 1980s-has not been subject to systematic empirical scrutiny.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labor Laws and Shadow Economies: A Cross‐National Assessment

Blanton

Peksen

2019

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective Toward better understanding the political economy of illicit economy, we examine the impact that labor laws have on illicit economic activity. Specifically, we posit that labor regulations are one of the key prospective benefits associated with formal work, and thus incentivize firms and individuals to participate in the formal, rather than illicit, sector. We further argue that the possible negative effect of labor laws on shadow economies is conditioned by countries’ institutional strength. Methods To test our hypotheses, we analyze time‐series, cross‐national data for over 100 countries from 1984 to 2012. Findings Results suggest that labor regulations are negatively related to shadow economic activity and the suggested impact of labor laws is particularly germane to countries with stronger institutional capacity. Conclusion Our argument and findings challenge the notion that regulations, particularly labor‐related regulations, induce more illicit economic exchanges.

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“…As the occurrence of industrial disasters is related to worker rights, specifically the right to a safe workplace, we expect that countries that recognize and enforce core worker rights are less likely to endure major industrial disasters as they would be more inclined to promote worker safety and better working conditions (Kerrissey and Schuhrke ). We thus include a Worker Rights variable to control for the level of respect for these rights.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholars across multiple disciplines have examined the causes of industrial disasters. Extant literature cites such causes as the globalization of production (Blanton and Peksen ; Frey ), corruption (Prakash ), labor rights abuses (Kerrissey and Schuhrke ), and rapid industrialization in the developing world (Souza‐Porto and Freitas ). Others approach the issue from a micro perspective, examining decision‐making dynamics and constraints that contribute to disaster occurrence, including political‐economic incentive structures (Benoît and Dubra ; Gotham ; Healy and Malhorta ) as well as organizational roles and norms (Beamish , ; Vaughan ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pro‐Market Policies and Major Industrial Disasters—A Dangerous Combination?

Blanton

Peksen

2017

Sociological Forum

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Industrial disasters are tragically frequent events, yet little systematic research has been devoted to the factors that contribute to their occurrence. Seeking broader insights into the causes of major industrial disasters, we focus on the role of state policies, particularly the effect of neoliberal policy prescriptions. We formulate and test several related hypotheses that delineate how a pro-market policy environment, specifically a "business-friendly" regulatory approach, openness to global trade and capital flows, and a smaller and less economically intrusive state, affect the probability of major industrial disasters. To test these claims, we gathered time-series cross-sectional data for 127 countries for the period 1981-2011. Results point to a significant positive association between pro-market reforms and major industrial disasters. Specifically, we find that economic liberalization in general as well as the two aspects of liberalization-business regulatory environment and economic openness-are positively and significantly related to the occurrence of major industrial disasters.

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Life Chances: Labor Rights, International Institutions, and Worker Fatalities in the Global South

Cited by 17 publications

References 49 publications

Unmasking social distant damage of developed regions’ lifestyle: A decoupling analysis of the indecent labour footprint

Unmasking social distant damage of developed regions’ lifestyle: A decoupling analysis of the indecent labour footprint

Labor Laws and Shadow Economies: A Cross‐National Assessment

Pro‐Market Policies and Major Industrial Disasters—A Dangerous Combination?

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